Nature Speaks to Us
by Andrea
(Manitoba, Canada)
Hug a Palm Tree!
I am only 25 but I strongly believe that nature affects our behaviors. I read Ted Andrew's book "Nature Speak" which I originally bought for my dad and I see a lot of correlation between being in nature and how I personally feel. I live up north in rural Manitoba and we have hard winters and poor weather conditions for a good chunk of the year and until I read Nature Speak, I never realized how beneficial it is to use nature's patterns to my own benefit; during winter it is natural to be more meditative.
I always enjoyed being in the tropics because of the warmer climates. However, due to health issues, now I have to be cautious of dehydration and so forth (drink plenty of gatoraide!). My husband and I were married in Niagara Falls (I insisted, I love water) and we honeymooned in Cuba. We arrived right before Hurricane Ike hit (September 2008) and we were confined to our room for 2 days. We were lucky we booked 2 weeks in Cuba. Although there was a huge storm ripping leaves off of palm trees and my husband was horribly ill as well those first 2 days, I felt at peace which was so strange!
I believe at certain points, we are called to go to a specific place. For some reason the falls made sense to me for my wedding. I felt a similar need to go to the desert in November (2009) to re-evaluate my goals and bring me closer to God. I think that if we just listen to nature (sometimes we try to block it) we find our own answers to our problems.
